


desolate stretches of sand

by thelostzephyr



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff, au where eridan just mopes around as a coping mechanism instead of killing everyone, oh my god i'm in rarepair hell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:00:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27725159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelostzephyr/pseuds/thelostzephyr
Summary: In which Eridan sulks and Aradia listens
Relationships: Eridan Ampora/Aradia Megido
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> listen, there wasn't enough eriara content and i had nothing to do in quarantine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listen, there wasn't enough eriara content and i had nothing to do in quarantine

Eridan Ampora was feeling unusually sulky these past few days.

Maybe it was the weather. Maybe it was the seasons. MAYBE it was his both his moirail _and_ kismesis breaking up with him on the same day - and what's more, to rub salt into the wound, Feferi _had_ to run off with that pissblood freak. _What a dreadful life I've lived_ , he thought as he wrapped his flashy violet cape tighter around his shoulders.

Regardless what it was, he spent every night ever since sitting on the desolate stretch of sand he called his "angsting beach" staring at the moons and sighing dramatically to no one in particular. He found a bit of solace in the act. After all, he'd always dealt with every minor nuisance in his life like this - just sitting on the beach and pouting. Of course, he had tried to talk to Feferi about it before, but she'd never listen to him for long. After a couple minutes of quality monologuing she'd always mumble a half-hearted apology and run off, citing "empress duties" as an excuse to ignore him. _Well, not like I'd have to deal with that anymore_ , he thought bitterly.

Occasionally an unsuspecting land troll would traipse up to the beach, fishing gear in hand. He'd always scare them off with a scowl, though. How _dare_ they interrupt his sulking? The nerve of some folks, really. Luckily, he looked rather intimidating, so it wasn’t like they’d stay for long. Thank cod for that.

He’d been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn’t noticed the footsteps of someone walking across the sand towards him and sitting down next to him. By the looks of her, she was a rustblood. Eridan mentally rolled his eyes. As if he was going to talk to someone like her.

She stared at him expectantly without saying anything. Eridan tried his best to ignore her, but he couldn’t keep up the act for long. “What do you want from me?” he growled at her. “Can’t you see I want to be alone?”

She cocked her head. “I don’t think it really seems that way, no. You look lonely enough as you are. And I’m not bothering you or really even acknowledging you at all.”

“Fine then. You can stay. But don’t talk to me again.”

She gazed at him with that blank stare, as if to say “I didn’t need your permission for that,” but she didn’t press the issue.

And so the rest of the night was spent that same way - absolutely silently.


	2. Chapter 2

She came the next day too, and the next day, and the day after that, and she just wouldn't leave-which Eridan found irritating beyond belief. He had to admire the dedication, though. It wasn't every day that there was someone willing to sit next to you and do nothing but stare at your creepily for hours just to piss you off.

Eridan briefly wondered what this girl's deal was. He didn't think he'd ever met her, ever. He briefly entertained the thought that this was a pitch advance, but quickly brushed off the idea. She did seem rather familiar, though. Maybe she was one of those kids who played that stupid game.

Oh, of course. She was that rustblood who hung around the pissblood asshole all the time. He tried to recall why exactly. What was her name? Amelia? Ariana? Aranea?

She cleared her throat, and Eridan realized he'd been staring. "Oh, I don't think we've been properly introduced," she said.

"My name is _Aradia,_ for starters, and I, as you've undoubtedly noticed, am a rustblood." She poked at her red-tinted skin. "See? Maroon. The color of lowblood filth. Or, er, 'lowwblood filth' as you would say." She laughs at her own imitation of Eridan's silly accent. Eridan decidedly does not.

"Clearly, you're not too pleased to talk to me, and I can't say I'm pleased to talk to you. But we're here, right now, together, and we're going to stay that way for the rest of the night, and it would at least be nice to know which asshole I'll be staring at today."

Eridan grumbles and rolls his eyes. He'd been doing that a lot lately. "I'm Eridan. I'm a violetblood and a seadweller, in case you couldn't tell from the fins, which makes me higher than you, obviously." He refrained from going on a tangent about the hemospectrum and their positions on it, which, at least in Eridan's mind, showed a lot of self control.

Aradia seemed to ignore the comment about the hemospectrum. She’d probably gotten used to it. "So, what brings you to this dreadful place, huh?"

He blushed in embarrassment. "That's none of your business."

"Oh, let me guess," teased Aradia with a twinkle in her eye. "It's about Feferi, am I right?" Eridan flinched. Aradia sighed, her mischievous glee gone. "Yeah, same here, if I'm being honest. Sollux... well, it seems that Sollux just doesn't have time for his precious moirail anymore."

Eridan squirmed. "At least _your_ moirail paid attention to you in the first place. I was always 'too dramatic' or 'too needy' for Fef, and while she wasn't wrong, I-I just-" Eridan cut himself off and quickly regained his composure. "I don't know why I was talking to you in the first place. Forget it, OK? It-it doesn't matter what's been going on between Fef and I, because frankly, it's none of your business."

Aradia frowned. "I think it sure looks like you want to talk about it."

"Well, you thought WRONG," interrupted Eridan. "I don't want to talk about it with _anyone,_ least of all lowbloods like you. Fuck off."

"Alright, alright. Fucking off right now."


	3. Chapter 3

Aradia kept coming back to that miserable beach to talk to Eridan, for some inexplicable reason. And... he'd been enjoying it. (Though he would never admit that to anyone.) The thing was, he didn't have a clue why she'd even want to come back. He'd always been insufferable - that's what Feferi had told him, after all - so he wouldn't have been surprised if one day Aradia got sick of his bullshit and just-

"Helloooo? Alternia to Eridan? You've zoned out again, haven't you?"

Eridan sighed. "I was just thinking about something."

"It's fine, it's fine," reassured Aradia. "I understand that these are, um, personal matters, which I've had, y'know, trouble talking about in the past, so I understand if you're not exactly comfortable talking about them with me-"

Eridan interrupted her. "No, no, it's not that. It's just that... I'm an asshole. In fact, I've almost never been polite to you. Why do you want to talk to me at all?"

"Well," she began, but paused for a second. "Well, Sollux was like that sometimes." She winced at the name. "And... and he never stayed that way for long, because when he was upset, he was hurt and there was something he wanted to talk about. And maybe you're that kind of person, too, because you two really do have a lot in common. So, if you don't mind me asking, is there anything you want to tell me?"

"I've been thinking a lot about Feferi recently. Feferi... and why we just didn't work out. She always told me I was too dramatic or too needy or too... something. I was just too much for her, she said. And every time I tried to tell her something it just seemed like she didn't care. And how she's right. I'm just too dramatic for my own good. I mean, come on. Sitting on an isolated beach every day for two weeks? What kind of loser am I?" He sighed.

Aradia frowned. "That... doesn't sound very supportive. Moirails are supposed to help each other, you know? Maybe your relationship... maybe that did more harm than good."

"I guess. I just, I don't know. I've been flushed for her since just about when we met... It's hard letting go. Sometimes I just wallow in my sorrow too much. You know?"

Eridan put his head in his hands and Aradia put her arms around him.

"Let's just both never talk about this again."


	4. Chapter 4

When Aradia came the day after, Eridan was waiting for her.

"I'm sick of sulking," he told her. "Let's go somewhere fun."

Aradia grabbed his hand and he led her away from the beach and towards the mountains that she used to explore sweeps ago. "Where _are_ we going, anyway?"

He smiled. A real, genuine smile. "Oh, just somewhere Fef and I used to go. You'll love it."

He then ducked into a small hole Aradia hadn't noticed before. Aradia hesitated for a bit before she followed. "Ooh, a cave!" she squealed, 

"Yes, it's a cave," sighed Eridan fondly.

"No, no, no! You don't understand! A cave in this mountain range that I haven't seen before? This is life-changing! Thank you, Eridan!" She wrapped her arms around Eridan excitedly, who pretended to be bothered by the contact, but was secretly very, very pleased. "Let's stay awhile, okay? Look how spectacular these are!"

Eridan hadn't seen anyone so happy since he got Feferi to talk about her aquatic hoofbeasts, so he obliged. He watched as Aradia pointed out every stalactite and stalagmite, poked in the pools of clear turquoise water for fish, and sketched out every cavern, every rock, every column. She looked ecstatic.

"Okay, you don't have to wait for me anymore. I'm done. Now, where'd you want to go?"

"Oh, yes. Just, erm, follow me," mumbled Eridan, stumbling across the maze of rocks. To be honest, he hadn't been here in a long time. He wasn't even sure if he remembered the way, but he kept walking anyways. Eventually, he reached the crack in the stone walls, in the same place that he remembered from his childhood. He paused for a moment, remembering the times when he used to clamor through the cavern, Feferi not far behind him, and slip through the hole. It was a sacred place to them, and maybe he felt the teensiest bit sacrilegious bringing someone else here.

"Eridan? What are you doing?" He was snapped out of his stupor by Aradia's melodic voice. She laughed. "Are you going to climb in there, or are you just going to stare at this rock for hours?"

He decided to do the former, and Aradia followed.

Eridan had forgotten how lovely this place was, though it had become a bit overgrown since the last time he visited. The violets were still here, though. The violets, the peonies, the fuschia shrubs lining the edge of the pristine spring that ran through the grotto, they had grown, but it was still the same cavern he remembered. He looked back at Aradia, who was gazing up at the skylight, in awe, just like Feferi had when they first discovered this hidden cave.

"Like it?"

Aradia looked around in awe. "I love it," she finally declared. “I love it, I love it. I love it almost as much as I love you.”

Eridan couldn’t agree more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH YEAH one more thing  
> Thanks, Kyle, for filterin through my brain vomit  
> I owe ya one


End file.
